Senior Power Conversion Engineer

Core Power•Washington, DC

About The Position

CORE POWER was founded in 2018 to solve the world’s energy challenges by delivering ship-based power directly to the industries and economies driving global prosperity, overcoming the barriers that have held nuclear energy back. CORE POWER builds, integrates and deploys ship-based nuclear energy systems, and orchestrates the complete infrastructure that makes it possible. We’re engineering our systems to be quicker, cheaper and more flexible than land-based nuclear. We build and support two classes of vessel: moored ship-shaped power plants, or FNPPs, that generate high-density energy, and nuclear-powered commercial ships that will speed up global trade. The Senior Power Conversion Engineer is a senior individual contributor responsible for the architecture, development, integration, and commissioning of power conversion systems for advanced nuclear maritime applications, including a floating nuclear power platform and a nuclear propulsion ship. The role will translate reactor-side power availability and vessel/platform power demands into safe, reliable, maintainable electrical conversion and distribution solutions suitable for marine environments.

Requirements

Significant experience developing power conversion, power electronics, power distribution, or electric propulsion systems for high-reliability applications.
Demonstrated ability to take complex electrical systems from requirements definition through design, procurement, integration, testing, commissioning, and operational support.
Strong understanding of medium-voltage and/or high-voltage power systems, rotating machinery interfaces, converter topologies, protection systems, grounding, power quality, harmonics, and transient behavior.
Experience with engineering analysis tools for load flow, short circuit, protection coordination, transient simulation, thermal assessment, reliability, and system-level trade studies.
Working knowledge of applicable marine, offshore, electrical, and safety standards and the ability to interpret requirements from classification societies, flag authorities, and regulators.
Ability to work in a fast-moving start-up environment with incomplete information, evolving requirements, and a need for practical, risk-informed engineering decisions.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex technical issues to non-specialists and senior stakeholders.
Willingness to travel to engineering offices, suppliers, test facilities, ports, shipyards, and commissioning locations as needed.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s in electrical engineering or related field
Master’s degree or PhD in electrical engineering.
Training or certification related to functional safety, marine classification, nuclear safety, systems engineering, or project engineering is advantageous.
5+ years of relevant engineering experience, with substantial exposure to power conversion, power electronics, power systems, or electric propulsion.
Experience in marine, offshore, naval, nuclear, aerospace, defense, grid-scale energy, or other highly regulated high-reliability sectors.
Experience with medium-voltage drives, propulsion drives, generator conversion systems, integrated power systems, microgrids, offshore power export, or large industrial power conversion systems.
Experience working with EPCs, OEMs, shipyards, classification societies, regulators, or major equipment suppliers.
Experience supporting safety-critical design reviews, design assurance, technical risk management, configuration control, and formal verification/validation activities.
Power conversion and power electronics architecture for high-power applications.
Marine electrical systems, integrated power systems, propulsion power, and auxiliary load integration.
Electrical protection, selectivity, grounding/earthing, fault management, and power system resilience.
Requirements management, interface management, design reviews, verification planning, and technical governance.
Supplier technical management, factory acceptance testing, commissioning support, and issue resolution.
Nuclear and marine safety mindset, including conservative engineering judgement, traceability, and rigorous documentation.
Influence without authority, cross-functional leadership, clear technical writing, and practical decision making under uncertainty.
Thrives in a creative environment but possesses pragmatism and awareness to maintain progress.
Proactive and results-oriented mindset
Positive ‘can do’ attitude.
Adaptable, motivated, and well organized
Ability to adapt to changing priorities and work under pressure.

Responsibilities

Owns the technical development of power conversion system concepts, requirements, specifications, and interfaces for floating nuclear power generation and nuclear propulsion applications.
Lead design activities for converters, inverters, rectifiers, transformers, switchgear interfaces, energy storage interfaces, motor drive interfaces, protection schemes, grounding/earthing, harmonic mitigation, and power quality.
Develop and maintain electrical architecture, single-line diagrams, load flow studies, short-circuit studies, protection coordination, transient stability assessments, and thermal/efficiency models.
Define and manage interfaces between the nuclear heat source, turbo-electric or electrical generation equipment, ship/platform distribution systems, propulsion loads, auxiliary loads, control systems, and safety systems.
Create technical requirements for suppliers and integration partners; evaluate vendor proposals, review design deliverables, and manage technical risks through procurement, manufacturing, factory acceptance testing, and site acceptance testing.
Support safety case development by contributing to hazard analyses, failure mode and effects analyses, reliability assessments, defense-in-depth strategies, and electrical fault response philosophies.
Plan and support verification and validation, including simulation, hardware-in-the-loop testing, factory testing, integration testing, commissioning, sea trials, and operational readiness demonstrations.
Ensure designs account for marine and nuclear constraints, including environmental qualification, shock and vibration, electromagnetic compatibility, maintainability, redundancy, segregation, cyber-resilience, and lifecycle operability.
Work closely with naval architects, marine electrical engineers, mechanical systems engineers, reactor engineers, control and instrumentation engineers, safety engineers, and regulatory team.
Produce high-quality engineering documentation, design reviews, decision records, technical trade studies, and recommendations for executive and program-level decision making.